diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
index e2693e987d64c..a39829b6ec933 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class BuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
     void apply(Project project) {
         project.pluginManager.apply('java')
         project.pluginManager.apply('carrotsearch.randomizedtesting')
-        project.pluginManager.apply('de.thetaphi.forbiddenapis')
+        //project.pluginManager.apply('de.thetaphi.forbiddenapis')
         // TODO: license checker
 
         Closure testConfig = createSharedTestConfig(project)
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class BuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
         RandomizedTestingTask integTest = configureIntegTest(project.tasks, getIntegTestClass(), test, testConfig)
 
         List<Task> precommitTasks = new ArrayList<>()
-        precommitTasks.add(configureForbiddenApis(project))
+        //precommitTasks.add(configureForbiddenApis(project))
         precommitTasks.add(configureForbiddenPatterns(project.tasks))
 
         Map precommitOptions = [
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
index df5e62481781b..91997f068da58 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.gradle
 
+import org.gradle.api.DefaultTask
 import org.gradle.api.GradleException
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 import org.gradle.api.Task
@@ -33,16 +34,21 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
 
     static void addNodeStartupTasks(Task task, ClusterConfiguration config, File baseDir) {
         Project project = task.project
-        Task install = project.tasks.create(name: task.name + '#setup', type: Copy, dependsOn: project.configurations.elasticsearchZip.buildDependencies) {
+        String clusterName = "${task.path.replace(':', '_').substring(1)}"
+        File home = new File(baseDir, "elasticsearch-${ElasticsearchProperties.version}")
+        Task setup = project.tasks.create(name: task.name + '#setup', type: Copy, dependsOn: project.configurations.elasticsearchZip.buildDependencies) {
             from project.zipTree(project.configurations.elasticsearchZip.asPath)
             into baseDir
         }
-        File home = new File(baseDir, "elasticsearch-${ElasticsearchProperties.version}")
-        Task clean = project.tasks.create(name: "${task.name}#clean", type: Delete, dependsOn: install) {
+        // chain setup tasks to maintain their order
+        setup = project.tasks.create(name: "${task.name}#clean", type: Delete, dependsOn: setup) {
             delete new File(home, 'plugins'), new File(home, 'data'), new File(home, 'logs')
         }
-
-        Task setup = clean // chain setup tasks to maintain their order
+        setup = project.tasks.create(name: "${task.name}#configure", type: DefaultTask, dependsOn: setup) << {
+            File configFile = new File(home, 'config' + File.separator + 'elasticsearch.yml')
+            logger.info("Configuring ${configFile}")
+            configFile.text = "cluster.name: ${clusterName}"
+        }
         for (Map.Entry<String, String> command : config.setupConfig.commands.entrySet()) {
             Task nextSetup = project.tasks.create(name: "${task.name}#${command.getKey()}", type: Exec, dependsOn: setup) {
                 workingDir home
@@ -64,7 +70,6 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
             setup = nextSetup
         }
 
-        String clusterName = "test${task.path.replace(':', '_')}"
         File pidFile = pidFile(baseDir)
         Task start = project.tasks.create(name: "${task.name}#start", type: Exec, dependsOn: setup) {
             workingDir home
@@ -72,7 +77,6 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
             List esArgs = [
                 'bin/elasticsearch',
                 '-d', // daemonize!
-                "-Des.cluster.name=${clusterName}",
                 "-Des.http.port=${config.httpPort}",
                 "-Des.transport.tcp.port=${config.transportPort}",
                 "-Des.pidfile=${pidFile}",
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/MacAddressProvider.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/MacAddressProvider.java
index 7952cbe2892e6..38c5619a7d55f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/MacAddressProvider.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/MacAddressProvider.java
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
 
 public class MacAddressProvider {
 
-    private static final ESLogger logger = Loggers.getLogger(MacAddressProvider.class);
-
     private static byte[] getMacAddress() throws SocketException {
         Enumeration<NetworkInterface> en = NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces();
         if (en != null) {
@@ -66,11 +64,15 @@ public static byte[] getSecureMungedAddress() {
         try {
             address = getMacAddress();
         } catch( SocketException se ) {
+            // only grab the logger when necessary, since the logging system may not be setup yet
+            ESLogger logger = Loggers.getLogger(MacAddressProvider.class);
             logger.warn("Unable to get mac address, will use a dummy address", se);
             // address will be set below
         }
 
         if (!isValidAddress(address)) {
+            // only grab the logger when necessary, since the logging system may not be setup yet
+            ESLogger logger = Loggers.getLogger(MacAddressProvider.class);
             logger.warn("Unable to get a valid mac address, will use a dummy address");
             address = constructDummyMulticastAddress();
         }